Strained

Chapter Fourteen

Addie had been gone for twelve days. 

The first couple of days she had been pretty consistent in updating us. Then, after five days the texts seemed to be sparse and few between. In fact, I hadn't officially heard from her for three days. She posted a lot of photos and videos on her social media accounts, all of which had completely blown up once the news hit that she was the leading role of the much-anticipated movie: Elemental.

It was all anyone could talk about.

If it wasn't for her posting so much, I wouldn't have known she was in the Pacific Northwest, specifically Washington and then North in Canada. I had assumed she would be in California, but I guess they were filming in several locations. Oh well, she seemed happy. In fact, she seemed really happy. She seemed to like all of her co-stars, who plagued her social media accounts. 

I wasn't jealous.

Well, I wasn't that jealous.

It wasn't about the fame and glory, it was about hanging out with Addie. She had left Salem and consequently, that meant leaving us. Her friends. I couldn't help but feel the need to mourn her loss. Erik was insistent on pretending that everything was normal. The two of us hadn't really hung out since the day at the lake. We both needed time to process our lives without Addie. Plus, it wasn't like Erik and I were going to hang out more because Addie was gone. He was dating Sage and I had Jamie. 

Speaking of Jamie, tonight is his first Salem Party. Granted, he's in college and this will be a lame High School party. Tonight is Ivelyn's annual Halloween Party and my seventh birthday. It's my second birthday in Salem. I can't help but feel like something is going to happen. Then again, it's Salem so the odds are in my favor of something happening. Or maybe it's because I'm not looking forward to being another year older. 

It's not that I'm worried about getting old. In fact, it's the opposite. With each birthday I get closer to twenty-one, my unofficial expiration date. In all of my past lives, and there was a lot, I had never lived to see my twenty-first birthday. I always died before. The closest I ever got was one month prior. If this life was like the others than after tonight I would only have less than four years left. It really made me think about life differently. Four years wasn't enough time. It was daunting to think another year had passed, which meant one year closer to death. 

The doorbell rang, snapping me out of my downward spiral into my dark thoughts. It was Jamie. I knew because I saw his face in my mind seconds prior to the doorbell ringing. It could be because it is my birthday or because it is a full moon tonight, but I feel my powers on full alert. I have less control but more power. It reminds me of when I wore the Amulet. I think of the Amulet and like a true addict, I reach for my neck, instinctually thinking the cold quartz would still be there. I search for it in an attempt to feel comfortable, but I know better than to put it on. 

It was like Gran had warned, the Amulet took more than it gave. 

As I descend down the stairs, I hear my mom opening the door for Jamie. Their chatter is killed when they see me walking down the stairs. My dress touches the ground in satin ruffles. I feel my cheeks burn from the attention. I want to go back upstairs and change, but I don't. Ivelyn would kill me if I didn't wear this dress. I touch the fabric, it's different. It's both silky and thick. Jamie was dressed as Voltaire. I only knew this because he had been planning it for weeks. He even had the long, curly grey wig on. 

This year Ivelyn had announced a theme for her Halloween Party and it was "Early Modern" which covered the 1600's to 1800. Jamie had been all too happy when he heard this, exclaiming loudly that this meant he could dress up as Voltaire. He was one of Jamie's favorite authors. Personally, I was surprised he didn't dress up as someone from Shakespeare.